Naruto: The Nonet of Fate
by Le Frye
Summary: After graduating from the academy, the rookie 9 is chosen for an experimental new formula of teambuilding. Instead of three man cells led by one Jonin sensei, the new system is composed of a nine-man unit led by three Jonin commanders. More rational; yet still stupid (but progressively smarter) Naruto. T for now, possibly M later. Eventual NaruIno pairing.
1. Pilot

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own Naruto.

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><p>"Lord third, with all due respect this idea is completely unethical and violates several laws in the Leaf code of conduct!" A slender woman with long black hair and red eyes stated respectfully yet firmly.<p>

"Kurenai's right dad, this doesn't make any sense. I don't like it." a tan man with short black spiky hair and a beard added.

"The fact that we have to take care of this many kids isn't really what I'm worried about, I just dislike the fact that its under such short notice. I would've remembered to be late…" a man with spiky silver hair with a mask over his face tartly mumbled.

"…"

The eldest man in the Hokage office was silent for a moment before finally replying.

"Your concern for order in the procedure of how genin teams are formed is admirable, but I assure you this is for their safety." The old man said.

"How so? And why are these nine so special? Why not experiment on some of the other eighteen graduates and their sensei? They have normal three-man cells led by one Jonin, so why don't we?" The bearded man asked curiously.

"Not to mention only nine of the twenty-seven graduates will become genin. We coincidentally have nine students on our cell, meaning if our group passed, there would be only one genin team from this graduating year." Kurenai added.

"To be honest Kurenai, that doesn't really matter. And to answer your question Asuma, it's quite simple. These nine are among the most promising and… "special" genin of their year." The hokage truthfully said.

"Pardon me Lord Hokage, but I don't quite agree. I could understand the Uchiha and maybe the Hyuuga due to their respective kekkei genkai, but what makes the other seven special?" The masked man questioned.

"Think about it Kakashi. All of these children have something extraordinary about them. The Haruno has amazing untapped potential in the genjutsu field along with her advanced book smarts, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio could be among the most elite genin teams in the village with some extra attention, the Aburame is among the best strategists of his class second to only the Nara when the ladder isn't being lazy, the Inuzuka has the best taijutsu of his graduation year, and lastly, Naruto not only needs extra attention due to barely graduating, but if his… "passenger" inside of him is unleashed; we'll need more than just one Jonin to suppress him. A more promising group doesn't currently exist here in the village." The hokage said with a vague grin.

The three jonin all mumbled for a while, but none could think of a decent excuse to get them out of the troublesome situation. They conceded.

"Well, no point in complaining. They're waiting for us." Kurenai admitted as she exited the offices.

Kakashi shortly followed behind her after a respectful bow to his superior.

Asuma gave his father an apathetic look before momentarily following behind Kakashi.

'This will be interesting. Hopefully he's happy now…' Hiruzen thought to himself.

'I'm sure they will be fine though.' The old man dismissed the topic as he pulled out chapter forty-one of the Icha-Icha paradise book series from his drawer with a perverted giggle.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere…<p>

* * *

><p>"They're late! I wanna know which sensei is mine already! The other groups left almost 20 minutes ago!" a blonde boy with blue eyes wearing a rather ugly orange. outfit agonizingly yelled as he paced back and forth.<p>

A girl with pale lavender eyes and dark blue hair gazed at the blonde and silently agreed with him, though she was absentmindedly vexed by his rowdy behavior.

"Stop complaining idiot. It's annoying. You heard what Iruka said; the higher-ups were late forming squads. Our respective sensei are probably just now receiving news on which students they'll have. Be patient." An adolescent with onyx eyes and black chin length hair affirmed with his hands clasped over his face with his elbows on the desk.

On the other side of the classroom, a bespectacled youth silently pondered the idea that something was amiss. There was no proper reason for the fact that not only were the higher-ups "not done" forming teams when teambuilding was supposed to be done and over with yesterday, but all three sensei for all three teams were ridiculously late. This was an odd situation to say the least.

"Sasuke's right! Shut up Naruto!" the pink haired young girl wailed towards the blonde boy, much to his dismay.

"Stop copying Sasuke you parrot!" a girl with long blonde hair and ocean blue eyes said mockingly.

"Who asked you Ino-pig!" the pink haired girl aggressively said.

"Who are you calling a pig, Forehead!" the blonde girl yelled.

The two girls went on to scream like banshees towards each seemingly endlessly, much to the other's annoyance.

"Their screaming is more troublesome than Naruto's. How am I supposed to sleep with all this noise." A boy with shoulder length black hair tied into a ponytail groaned with an irritated expression while lying on a desk.

A rather plump boy with red spiral markings on his cheeks seemingly didn't notice the activity around him and only focused on his delicious bag of sour cream and onion potato chips.

"That's it! I'm gonna find them and bring them here myself! C'mon Akamaru!" A boy with a grey fur coat declared as he stood up followed closely by his puppy.

"Right behind ya Kiba." Naruto said as he followed behind the boy who was equally as impatient as him.

The canine-like boy reached for the doorknob to begin his search before the door suddenly opened revealing the three sensei who they had been waiting for far longer than they should have.

"Yo." The masked shinobi said as unemotional as possible.

"Hey." The bearded jonin said with a wave.

"Hello." The kunoichi said with a smile.

"Well! Which one of you is my sensei!" Naruto said pointing his finger at neither of the three in particular.

'This kid is rude. No hello?' Kurenai thought to herself.

"That would be me." Asuma said with a grin.

"Who else, who else is on our team!?" Naruto asked anxiously.

"Hopefully Sakura is on my team…" Naruto giddily hoped inwardly.

"Sakura Haruno…" the bearded man started.

"YES!" Naruto outwardly cheered.

"No… I'm doomed." Sakura mumbled, halting her screaming at Ino.

"Sasuke Uchiha…" the bearded man continued.

"YAY!" Sakura cheered even louder than Naruto had seconds ago.

"And then Sasuke comes and ruins everything as usual…" Naruto mumbled even quieter than Sakura had moments ago.

Ino was now sitting at a desk moping at the fact that she wasn't paired with Sasuke.

"…Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga and Kiba Inuzuka." The son of the hokage finished.

At this point, every child in the room's jaw had dropped quite far excluding Sasuke and Shino who both raised eyebrows. Choji almost dropped a chip on the floor due to shock, but hastily caught it and devoured it.

"I don't quite understand. Would you mind explaining this to us?" Shino Aburame asked politely.

"Certainly." Kurenai spoke up noticing Shino as the most polite student she'd heard speak thus far.

"You see, Asuma, Kakashi and I are your three jonin commanders. You nine are an experimental group of graduates who have all been assigned to one team." The red eyes woman said with a smile.

"What the fuck?! " the feral boy hollered simultaneously with his dog's "Arf!"

"WHAAAAT!" Naruto screamed.

'A nine man cell… These losers will only get in my way…' The Uchiha mentally concluded.

Sakura and Ino simply glared at each other

Choji continued to munch on his chips, albeit much slower since he was shocked by the fresh news.

Shikamaru leaned up from his desk and opened one eye to stare at the three Jonin.

Shino seemed unmoved.

Hinata shyly stared at Naruto happy to be on the same team as the boy.

"I know this whole situation is pretty hard to swallow…" Kakashi began before being interrupted by Kiba's immature giggling at his statement.

"… but it will actually make things easier and in the long run all of you will probably become much stronger that you would have with only one sensei." The masked ninja finished.

"You see, the three of us all specialize in one of the three jutsu categories. I'm Asuma Sarutobi, and I'm skilled in Taijutsu." The bearded man stated.

"I'm Kurenai Yuhi, and I specialize in genjutsu." The kunoichi said.

"And I'm Kakashi Hatake, I prefer Ninjutsu." The seemingly cycloptic man said.

"So in summary, the nine of us having three senseis who together specialize in all three jutsu types will result in all of us later down the line becoming elite in all three instead of focusing on the one they're best at like most genin do, am I right?" Shikamaru hypothesized as he finally leaned up from off of the desk, finally intrigued by the situation.

'That's probably the genius Nara that dad told us about. Man, he's the spitting image of Shikaku.' Asuma inwardly pondered.

"Yep. That's right. However, I'd rather not have a long conversation about this whole thing here. Meet the three of us on top of the Kenmopo Center behind the Ichiraku ramen shop in one hour. Don't be late." Kakashi said as he shushined away less than a second later followed by the other two Jonin.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

The nine rookies all sat in silence for what felt like five minutes.

Eventually the nine conversed about the situation and the pros and cons of the entire thing.

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><p>About 20 minutes later…<p>

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><p>Everyone had long left the classroom and Naruto was taking a stroll around the village since he still had quite a long time until he needed to meet up with his sensei. He turned a corner only to encounter and lock eyes with his crush, Sakura Haruno.<p>

He walked towards her.

'Just one last try, its now or never Naruto!' The boy inwardly cheered himself on.

"Hey Sakura, I was thinking since we're gonna be on the same team and all we should go out or something and get to know-" Naruto began.

"Eww, why would I want to go out with you!?" Sakura rhetorically asked.

Sakura had rejected Naruto more times than he could count, but for some reason he still fought for her affection. However, something about the look of disgust on Sakura's face made Naruto far beyond offended. Despite this, the boy chose to contain his growing anger on a whim.

"What's so wrong with me Sakura? You've never even given me a chance and I haven't done anything to you. What's the deal?" Naruto asked calmly.

"Naruto. You're annoying. BEYOND annoying. You're arguably the single most annoying person I've ever met. Just leave." Sakura said disrespectfully.

Naruto gave Sakura an apathetic look trying with all his might not to say what was exactly on his mind at this point.

"Ok then." Naruto said plainly as he turned around and walked off.

'Oh, I don't care! Who needs that big fore headed bitch anyway!?' Naruto violently thought to himself as he walked passed a familiar Uchiha who he didn't even glance at.

Sakura frantically ran up to Sasuke and ironically said,

"Hey Sasuke, I was thinking since we're going to be on the same team and all we should go out and get to know each other."

"Who are you?" The Uchiha honestly asked after analyzing the girl for a few seconds.

When Sakura gave a sorrowful look and no response, Sasuke simply walked off without another word.

Sakura simply went to go sit on a nearby bench to mope for a good ten minutes.

* * *

><p>38 minutes later…<p>

* * *

><p>All nine rookies had gathered together on top of the Kenmopo Center roof with two of their sensei with the masked one mysteriously absent.<p>

"I'd ask you all to introduce yourselves, but there are too many of you and I'd get bored." the eldest male on the roof announced.

**Ahem** the red-eyed jonin cleared her throat.

"What he meant to say was that the two of us and Kakashi have all read your stats from the academy, so we already know a good portion about you. Also, Asuma, Kakashi and I already told you a bit about ourselves in the classroom so introductions would be pointless." Kurenai assured.

"Then what was the point of all of us meeting here?" several of the genin thought to themselves.

All of a sudden a moderate sized cloud of smoke appeared revealing none other than Kakashi himself.

"Hi." The masked man said.

"You're a bit late pal." Asuma said to his comrade.

"Well you see I got a bit lost on the path of life. It's actually a miracle I made it here fashionably late." Kakashi said nonchalantly

"You're always late…" Kurenai mumbled.

'Hmm…' Shikamaru thought to himself.

"Straight to business though. We'll have our first mission tomorrow. It's a task that the ten of us will do together." Kakashi announced.

"What will we be doing Kakashi sensei?" Ino asked.

"A survival exercise." The masked jonin said firmly.

"What! That's not even a real mission!" Kiba barked.

"Yeah, that's just practice!" Naruto added.

"This isn't like the previous training exercises you all have gone through." Kakashi warned.

"So… what kind of training is it then?" Choji spoke up.

Kakashi simply started chuckling.

"That's a normal question. What's so funny sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Well, when I tell you, you're not going to like it." the cycloptic man said.

Naruto opened his mouth to ask for details but Kakashi continued to talk before he could start.

"Out of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will actually become genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the academy for further education. In other terms, this is a pass or fail, make it or break it test and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%. Be at the designated training field at 5 a.m., and bring your ninja gear." Kakashi said intimidatingly.

'This is it! People are gonna look up to me some day! I cant fail.' Naruto inwardly concluded.

'If I fail I wont be with Sasuke… this is a trial of love!' Sakura thought motivationally.

Sasuke simply clenched his fists in anxiety.

Shikamaru contemplated how troublesome the whole situation was.

Choji simply pulled out a bag of candy from his pocket and started chowing down.

Ino was focused on outdoing Sakura and concluded that she would pass no matter what.

Hinata noticed the determined look on Naruto's face and knew she had to try her best.

'Me and Akamaru can't go back to the academy! No way no how!' Kiba thought.

Shino looked indifferent but was truly confident that he would pass.

"Oh, and skip breakfast tomorrow. You'll probably throw up. Alright, you're dismissed." Kakashi said as he shushined away.

Asuma and Kurenai simply walked off together leaving the kids to their thoughts.

* * *

><p>The next morning…<p>

* * *

><p>The rookies slowly started arriving to the training field. Some in groups, others one by one.<p>

First were Shikamaru and Choji, 15 minutes early. Shino arrived afterwards about 10 minutes early. Soon was Hinata who was 2 minutes early. Then were Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, coincidentally at the same time, 5 am exactly. Lastly were Kiba and Ino, 10 and 13 minutes late respectively. The nine exchanged greetings before Shikamaru spoke up.

"Everyone listen up, I think I may have an idea." The Nara started.

"Why should I listen to a slacker loser like you? Who put you in charge?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.

"If you don't wanna listen, don't. But when you wind up in the academy again like a failure, who would be the real loser then?" Shikamaru said coldly.

Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but even if the boy's plan was terrible, a bad plan was a lot better than no plan. The Uchiha simply turned his back in defiance, pretending to be inattentive, but he was actually listening to every word Shikamaru would say.

"No offense, but we really don't have time to form a strategy. Kakashi sensei is probably hiding in some bush right now listening to every word we say." Naruto said gaining nods from multiple of his peers.

"Don't worry, he'll be late. According to Kurenai sensei he always is. Not to mention he admitted himself yesterday that "it was a miracle he arrived fashionably late" hinting that he tends to be much later to important events." Shikamaru explained.

The group all marginally agreed and paid close attention to the boy.

"Alright, first of all..." Shikamaru started

About two hours later…

Kakashi had finally arrived to the designated training field.

"Good morning everyone, ready for your first day?" Kakashi said casually.

The whole group nonchalantly nodded.

'I think I'll like this bunch. No one complains about me being late." Kakashi inwardly concluded.

**Ahem** "Well, lets get started. You have until noon to take these two bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you cant get them by noon you'll go without lunch and will be tied to those nine posts over there and watch as I eat my lunch." Kakashi explained.

"So that's why he told us to skip breakfast." the majority of the genin whined.

"But wait sensei, there are nine of us and two bells. What gives?" Kiba asked.

"That way, the majority of you will be punished for failing to complete the mission. Those seven will go back to the academy. Then again, all nine of you could flunk too. It all depends on how this plays out. You may use any weapon in the fight, if you're not prepared to kill me, you wont be able to take the bells. When I say start… well, you know what to do." The jonin said.

"Ready…" Kakashi started.

All nine genin braced their selves for the exercise.

"Start!" the cycloptic man commanded.


	2. The Bell Drill

**A.N. Woah, this fic has a decent amount of support already! Who would've thought? Well anyways, This chapter isn't amazing to be honest, so don't expect much. Im actually posting it earlier than I intended to. I normally would only release chapter 2 when I finished chapter three, and release chapter 3 when I finished chapter 4 etcetera, you get the point. Im only doing this because I have a class thats ending before January and my grade all relies on this one essay that i haven't even started despite it being assigned months ago (#Procrastination anyone?). Well anyways, thats enough about my personal life. The point is don't expect chapter 3 until about… 10 days at the most I suppose. If we're lucky, Ill have it done by the 6th. Regardless, on with the fic!**

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><p>FLASHBACK<p>

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><p>"Alright, first of all, I already have Intel on what the survival exam is. It'll be the nine of us against Kakashi in a battle to steal a few bells he straps to his waist. I've already planned accordingly." The Nara stated<p>

"How do you know that?" Sakura asked.

"I did a little research on Kakashi's survival drill, he does the same one every year. Every time, the students fail. I have no idea why though. I guess they just couldn't get the bells." Shikamaru explained.

A few of the others cringed at the fact that no one had ever passed the drill.

"Kiba, Sasuke and Hinata, you'll be the first step of the plan." Shikamaru announced.

"Um, Shikamaru… you know Sasuke's not listening right?" Ino said.

"He and I both know he's paying close attention to everything I'm saying." Shikamaru said.

Sasuke seemed unmoved but was inwardly shocked that the Nara saw through his ploy. He continued to listen closely.

"As I was saying, you three are the best at Taijutsu out of the nine of us. I'll need you to engage Kakashi in hand-to-hand combat. The rest of us will scatter into nearby hiding places. We have the best chance of getting the bells with the three of you rushing at him…" Shikamaru said.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK END<p>

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><p>"Start!" the cycloptic man commanded.<p>

Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Shino all scattered into the nearby forest.

Kiba went for a frontal attack slashing at Kakashi with his claw like nails while Akamaru attempted to bite his leg.

Hinata went for an attack around the rear with a Gentle Step Twin Palms.

Kakashi swiftly caught Kiba's arm before he could touch him, turned around and threw him into Hinata causing the two to fly back.

Kakashi ignored Akamaru and endured the bite due to the simple fact that he always had a thing for dogs and didn't want to attack a puppy. It wasn't hurting him much so he didn't mind.

Sasuke then appeared seemingly from out of nowhere with a hard kick to his abdomen that Kakashi blocked with his right arm. Sasuke went in to punch him with his right arm in which Kakashi blocked with his left arm. The jonin's arms were now in a crossed position. Sasuke now attempted to kick Kakashi with his other leg in which he blocked by moving his left arm up to block his head, while still holding Sasuke's fist. Sasuke had one free arm in which he used to attempt to grab a bell.

'This kid…' Kakashi thought as he let go of the Uchiha and dashed backwards avoiding the boys attempt at stealing the bell.

'I should take care of him now. He could be a problem later.' The jonin concluded as he began weaving hand seals but was soon interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Now!" Shikamaru yelled as he jumped from behind a tree and made a rat hand seal to send a shadow towards Kakashi in attempt to possess him.

Shino then from inside a nearby bush placed his palms on the floor and sent countless insects in a stream formation towards the Jonin.

The shadow and insects were now intertwined for a deadly technique.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK<p>

* * *

><p>"…I'll need you to engage Kakashi in hand-to-hand combat. The rest of us will scatter into nearby hiding places. We have the best chance of getting the bells with the three of you rushing at him to lure him into an enclosed area where Shino and I can safely emerge from our hiding spots and ambush him with our combined insect and shadow jutsu for a combo attack. He should be shaken enough from his scuffle with you to fall right into our trap." Shikamaru said.<p>

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK END<p>

* * *

><p>Kakashi jumped into the air to dodge the incoming assault.<p>

The insects began to fly upwards in a last effort to attack the Jonin.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Kakashi said as he shot a huge fireball from his mouth, singeing the insects below him forcing Shikamaru and Shino to run and avoid the attack.

Sakura from safely in a tree threw several kunai at Kakashi while he was in midair making it difficult to avoid.

Ino from the other side of Kakashi threw several shuriken at him for extra insurance making it near impossible for the jonin to dodge.

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><p>FLASHBACK<p>

* * *

><p>"…He should be shaken enough from his scuffle with you to fall right into our trap. But then again, we are up against a jonin, so him evading our attack wouldn't surprise me. In any case, Sakura and Ino, this is where you come in. Make sure to be on opposite sides of each other and toss whatever kunai or shuriken you have at him making it impossible for even a jonin to physically dodge while in midair." Shikamaru commanded.<p>

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK END<p>

* * *

><p>The weapons pierced Kakashi in a rather gruesome manner leaving the cycloptic man a bloody mess.<p>

The jonin then exploded into a puff of smoke revealing him to only be a piece of wood.

Kakashi then reappeared out in the open, away from the forest and all hiding places.

'These kids are no joke…' Kakashi concluded

"Human Boulder!" Choji screamed as he appeared behind the Jonin as he grew to massive size and began rolling towards Kakashi.

Kakashi dodged consistently and near effortlessly, but the boy continued to turn around and try to roll the jonin over again every time he missed.

Suddenly, 13 Naruto's fell from the sky and ambushed Kakashi, coordinating attacks with Choji.

Hinata, Kiba and Sasuke all momentarily came to assist and coordinate attacks with the other two.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK<p>

* * *

><p>"…Make sure to be on opposite sides of each other and toss whatever kunai or shuriken you have at him making it impossible for even a jonin to physically dodge. Shikamaru stated.<p>

"But Shikamaru, Kakashi sensei could simply use a substitution jutsu!" Sakura said.

"You're right. That's why I said it's impossible to physically dodge it. Obviously as genin, we wont be able to hit a trained jonin with a direct attack like that. When the time is right, I need you two to go on the offensive. Relentlessly attack Kakashi giving him no room to run. He won't be trying to kill you two, so he'll probably just dodge us instead of sending some deadly jutsu your way." Shikamaru said pointing towards Naruto and Choji.

"Shikamaru, How will we know when the time is right?" Naruto asked.

"Oh trust me, you'll know. Eventually, he'll retreat to an open area where we can no longer surprise him by popping out from trees, bushes and stuff like that. That's when I recommend striking." Shikamaru said.

"Also, Sasuke, Hinata and Kiba, if you're not out of commission from engaging Kakashi, we could use your help here too." The Nara suggested.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK END<p>

* * *

><p>Kakashi was getting slightly annoyed by his predicament, so he began hand seals to use a weak E-Rank jutsu to get them off of his back. Suddenly, He was stuck on the rat sign, unable to look away from the sky. The jonin was immobile.<p>

"Shadow possession, success." Shikamaru said aloud.

"What!?" Kakashi said.

"That's right sensei. You've been playing into my hands the whole time." Shikamaru announced.

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK<p>

* * *

><p>"Also, Sasuke, Hinata and Kiba, if you're not out of commission from engaging Kakashi, we could use your help here too. Due to the relentless attack, he'll probably be focusing on the five of you more than he should leaving him open to my shadow possession. If I catch him, I'll force him to look upwards so that he wont be able to look at a log, or one of you to activate substitution on. Then one of you can safely grab those bells. "<p>

* * *

><p>FLASHBACK END<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto walked up to the immobile jonin and grabbed both bells and held them up high gaining cheers from all nine rookies bar Sasuke and Shino who nodded in approval.<p>

"How... did you..." Kakashi said as he struggled to form a sentence.

"Simple. When you give nine genin two hours of preparation time due to your constant tardiness, it's not hard to formulate a plan. We actually planned out the next 68 steps which involved some explosives and Ino's mind jutsu, but I see they weren't needed. You lose, Kakashi." Shikamaru said smugly as he released the shadow possession.

"68? I only memorized the first 10..." Kiba thought to himself.

Slow clapping could be heard from far behind a tree.

Kakashi gave what seemed to be a smile under the mask as he poofed from existence and the bells Naruto held poofed into twigs. They were nothing more than fakes.

The nine rookies visually moped at the fact that the "Kakashi" they caught and the bells the earned were nothing more than fakes.

Kakashi walked out from behind a tree, still slow clapping until he began to speak.

"Well, well, well. I'm impressed. However… look at the time." Kakashi said mockingly.

The nine students all looked up at the direction of the sun to realize it was in the center of the sky. It was noon.

"I guess we fail then huh…" Shikamaru said in defeat as he pondered the idea of his mom screaming at him for being sent back to the academy. She was truly a troublesome woman.

"You pass. You all pass. The purpose of this drill is to be nothing more than a teamwork exercise. You all coordinated your attacks and planned everything out almost perfectly. Together, you probably could've taken down most chunin and maybe even the lower ranked special jonin. My one critique is that you should pay closer attention to the enemy alongside the position of your allies. You didn't even notice I made a shadow clone earlier. Regardless, all of you pass. Great work." Kakashi announced with a smile.

The training field was dead silent.

"You mean we're all…" Naruto started.

"Yep. You're all officially genin. Congratulations." The cycloptic man announced

Naruto verbally screamed "Yeah!" out of joy.

Sakura and Ino cheered louder than Naruto, likely not due to becoming ninjas, but probably because they were paired with Sasuke.

Sasuke sat down and smiled smugly.

Shikamaru fell flat on his ass, relieved to have the troublesome drill behind him. He sighed in relief.

Shino seemed unmoved.

Choji pulled out a bag of chips; this time barbeque flavored and devoured it hastily.

Hinata was happy that she could help, albeit not very much.

Kakashi asking Kiba to "Please remove your dog from my leg" interrupted his cheering.

The nine cheered in their own ways, some even louder than before. They had finally done it.

They were finally true ninjas.

"The Unit starts its first missions tomorrow. See you soon." Kakashi said with a smile and a wave.

'I think… I'll like this bunch…' the jonin thought to himself as he walked off leaving the new genin to their individual cheer.

* * *

><p>Later…<p>

* * *

><p>Kakashi met up with Asuma and Kurenai back on top of the Kenmopo Center.<p>

"You're early." Kakashi said to the two of them.

"No, you're just late." Kurenai retorted.

"Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way" Kakashi lied.

"Right… well how'd it go? I mean, with our students." Asuma asked.

"Surprisingly, perfect. They passed with flying colors. Their teamwork was great and the Nara planned out the whole thing. They weren't able to get the bells, but they were able to subdue a clone of mine. The clone was obviously weaker than the real me, but its was still impressive. " Kakashi explained.

The two went wide-eyed at Kakashi explanation. They were visibly shocked.

"But… no ones ever passed your exam." The red-eyed jonin said.

"Not to mention no ones even come close." The bearded jonin added.

"Well, their odds were better since there were _nine_ of them, but I wasn't even able to read Makeout Paradise once, or even glance at it for that matter. So I guess it is surprising. But, off topic, what are we gonna do about the mission for tomorrow?" Kakashi said.

"Hell, this bunch has talent. I say we skip the D-rank missions and go straight to C-rank missions." Asuma suggested.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down a bit. I think we should start em off with a couple D-ranks and go from there." Kurenai proposed

"I agree with Kurenai. They wont do D-ranks as long as the average genin team does, but they still should still start off slow." Kakashi advocated.

"I think that you guys are underestimating them, but I'm outnumbered, so I guess we'll go with your plan." Asuma conceded.

"Shouldn't The Unit and I have a say in this as well?" A voice said.

A young genin with blonde hair and blue eyes walked up the stairs that he was stationed at the bottom of.

"Ah, Naruto. I was wondering when you would come out of hiding." Kakashi said.

"Don't try and sound cool Kakashi sensei, you had no idea I was here." The blonde said mockingly earning a chuckle from the cycloptic jonin.

"So, how about it. Can I have a say in this?" Naruto asked.

"We're… open to suggestions I guess Naruto." Kurenai said.

"I agree with Asuma sensei. We're way too strong for those lame D-rank missions. I could do tons of those in one day, no sweat!" Naruto boasted.

"How about a wager then?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm listening." Naruto said.

"If you can do… say, 50 D-rank missions in one day, you, Asuma, and two others of our choosing will be able to go on a C-rank mission. If you fail, you and the rest of The Unit will have to do D-rank missions for six months." Kakashi challenged.

Asuma didn't like the fact that he was being dragged into a wager that he didn't agree to, but he didn't mind. C-ranks were child's play to him.

Naruto thought for a moment.

"On a few conditions." Naruto said.

"First of all, if I singlehandedly do 50 D-rank missions in one day, the whole unit should be allowed to do C-rank missions whenever we choose. Meaning, you won't bump us back down to D-ranks after Asuma sensei and me go on our mission. Secondly, when Asuma sensei and me go on our mission, DON'T put Sakura on our team. Deal?" Naruto asked with an extended hand.

"Deal." Kakashi said as he firmly shook the boy's hand signifying the deal.

"You have from now until noon tomorrow to complete your job. Good luck Nar-" Kakashi said before he stopped due to Naruto sprinting off, likely to get started on his portion of the wager.

"Kakashi, why did you go and do that?" Kurenai questioned.

"Relax. He wont be able to do it. Not even I could complete 50 D-rank missions in one day. Not that I'm physically incapable, its just that there's simply not enough time for so many missions in such a short period of time." Kakashi reassured.

"I guess you're right." Kurenai said.

"You two underestimate him. He's actually not a lot stronger than you two think. I believe in him." Asuma added.

"Oh trust me, I'm not doubting his physical prowess and potential, I'm the one who fought him not too long ago. Its just, as I stated earlier, not enough time." Kakashi said.

"If you say so Kakashi. Well, if you excuse me, I gotta get ready for my C-rank mission tomorrow." Asuma said with a smirk as he walked off with a wave.

"I wonder what's gotten into him." Kurenai said.

"Who knows? Maybe he's right though. Naruto _is_ a boy full of surprises." Kakashi added.

"I guess. But what has me curious is the fact that he asked for Sakura not to be put on his mission. It was my understanding that he had quite the little crush on her." Kurenai thought aloud.

Kakashi simply shrugged, uninterested by Kurenai's wondering.

"Hmm…" Kurenai mumbled.

* * *

><p>ELSEWHERE<p>

* * *

><p>"You did WHAT!?" an angry Kiba wailed towards Naruto.<p>

"You idiot! There's no way you can do all of that in one day! Now we'll be stuck doing D-ranks for half a year!" Sasuke barked towards the blonde boy.

Naruto had gathered his eight teammates outside of the Ichiraku ramen shop to deliver the news.

"Trust me everyone, I have things covered. I've already thought it out and there's an easy way I can-" Naruto started.

"Sasukes right! You ruin everything you-" Sakura started, cutting off Naruto.

"Shut the fuck up." Naruto interjected venomously towards the pink haired kunoichi, much to the shock of everyone there.

Sakura was prepared to retort with her fist, which was clenched and ready to clobber the boy until she was scared stiff by the murderous impulse radiating from the Uzumaki. Sakura even fell flat on her ass from the sheer fear of what the blonde might do with all that rage, that hatred directed towards her.

The two locked eyes for a moment, with everyone observing the whole scene, some too frightened by the aura to say anything while others deemed it as "none of their business".

Naruto closed his eyes, and after a deep breath, calmed down and continued to talk.

"As I was saying… I have this covered. I should be getting started now. See ya." Naruto said as he walk off, still visibly angry at Sakura.

'What was that about…' Sasuke wondered.

'N-Naruto…' Hinata mentally worried about the boy.

Shino seemed unmoved, but inwardly pondered what could have happened between the two.

Ino felt bad for her ex-friend, but still thought that Sakura had what was coming to her. Sure, she agreed with Sasuke and never thought much of Naruto, but she never approved of the way she treated the boy. No one deserved the constant bullshit Naruto received from her, and she was glad he stood up for himself.

Kiba thought what Naruto did was pretty cool. He always thought Sakura was pretty annoying, so seeing her fall flat on her ass in fear from someone like Naruto was a treat.

Shikamaru, being near unmoved by the situation already figured out what Narutos plan was to complete so many missions in such a short time was. It was rather basic for him, but it was genius for someone he thought was an idiot. Shikamaru's opinion on Naruto was starting to improve.

Choji was too focused on his salt and vinegar potato chips to care about the situation that had unfolded. The chips were much more important.

Sakura's mind went blank as she struggled to stand up, still fear stricken by the murderous intent that was directed towards her not too long ago.

She said nothing to her comrades and began walking away leaving the others to their thoughts.

**A.N. Well, how was that XD? Well, I did tell you not to expect much, so hopefully you weren't too disappointed. Oh, by the way, tell me if you like or dislike the flashbacks during the fights, or if i should keep them for after the fight has ended. I could really use the suggestions. Well um… have a good day :3**


	3. Journey to the Waves

**A.N. You all have my sincerest apologies for posting this chapter 5 days later than scheduled. Lets just say school is hellacious and I barely have enough time to write as it is. I hate writers who make false promises saying that they'll have a certain chapter up by a certain time, then take way longer than they say. I promise that this is the last time this will happen. If I dont know if I have enough time to write a chapter, I just wont specify a date. Anyways, hopefully you enjoy this chapter. It was pretty half-assed and rushed, but I hope its not noticeable. I know that its troublesome, but if you can leave a review with constructive criticism (or even praise) on my work. It REALLY helps me out. Thanks guys. Enjoy!~**

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><p>Naruto had arrived at the mission assignment office only to see a lone Chunin sleeping on a desk laden with scattered scrolls and documents. All official missions were separated by rank in bins. There were what seemed like thousands in the D-rank bin, Hundreds in the C and B-rank bin, A little less than 100 in the A-rank bin, and only about 20 missions in the S-rank bin.<p>

"Hey… um… sir? Can ya wake up?" Naruto asked politely, gently nudging the man.

"It's kind of urgent, wake up _please._" Naruto said a bit more abrasive, still to no avail.

"WAKE THE HELL UP!" Naruto wailed at the Chunin.

The Chunin jumped awake and took in the scenery, realizing he was still at work.

"Hello." The man greeted politely.

"_Hi_. 50 D-rank missions please." Naruto asked as politely as he could, but still managed to sound rude.

"Isn't that a bit much? They're pretty easy, but 50 is quite a lot kid." the man asked.

"_Just get me the missions_." The blonde said, clearly fed up with the Chunin.

The man almost mechanically reached into the bin containing all of the D-rank missions, and pulled out 50 mission scrolls that were admittedly difficult to all carry at the same time.

"I'll see you in a week or so." The man said expecting all of those missions to take a while to complete as he gave the scrolls to the Uzumaki who waved and exited the premises.

"Finally." The chunin said as he once again drifted off into the realm of sleep seconds later.

Naruto, from outside the office conjured up 50 clones exactly and accordingly handed a scroll to each of them.

"Get going." Naruto commanded.

The clones scattered into many different areas of the village to complete their missions, which ranged from simple gardening, to troublesome pet retrieval and everything in between.

* * *

><p>Over the next few hours, the clones reported in and dispersed giving him the ability to write mission reports from the memories they passed on to him. Naruto hated making so many clones that didn't disperse for long periods of time as gaining over hour-long memories from 50 or so clones around the same time gave him one hell of a headache. However, a <em>man<em> had to do what a _man_ had to do.

By the time that every clone had finished his individual job and the mission reports were all filed by the main Naruto, it was late afternoon and the sun was at twilight.

Once again returning to the mission hall, he found the same Chunin sitting at the desk, now awake, but with an immensely bored expression. He gave an "**ahem"** to alert the man of his presence, and piled the mission scrolls on the table.

"All done." Naruto said with a noticeable tone of conceit and a laugh.

The chunin said nothing as the boy left the room. All he could do was stare at his back in amazement. He eventually filed every last report and added it to the boy's record. He was amazed that a boy who had been a genin for no more than a few hours already had this many missions done.

"Naruto Uzumaki…" the man thought to himself.

* * *

><p>Naruto was abnormally giddy at the fact that he won his bet with Kakashi, and gained a hefty amount of money doing so. He was bummed that he wouldn't be able to tell him until tomorrow due to simply being unaware of his whereabouts, but he tried to be patient. The look on his face, or the small part of his face that was visible, would be priceless.<p>

He decided to celebrate his success with a bit of his favorite thing to eat, Ichiraku Ramen.

As he made his way to the small Ramen shop, he was delivered the usual glares and "Demon!" taunts from the villagers. He knew why they thought of him so poorly, but he honestly couldn't care less. The nine tailed fox hadn't bothered him for his entire life and sometimes he even forgot it was inside of him.

When he was Hokage, they'd respect him and that was all that mattered. So for now, all he had to do was endure.

Naruto finally arrived at the ramen shop and walked in to see a man in a white chief outfit cleaning a bowl. His hat spelled out in red letters, "Teuchi".

"Heya old man." Naruto said enthusiastically.

"Well if it isn't my favorite customer! What can I get ya Naruto?" the cook said happily.

"I'll have the super teriyaki chicken beef combo ramen, to go please." The blonde said politely.

"To go? You don't say that often. In a hurry kid?" Teuchi asked.

"Not really. I'd just like a change of scenery while I eat, no offense." Naruto explained.

"None taken. I'll get right to it." the chief said as he began preparing the ramen.

About two minutes passed as Teuchi finished concocting the ramen and handed it off to Naruto.

"Thanks old man. See ya." The genin said as he departed the shop.

Teuchi waved the boy as he walked off and began washing dishes again.

Naruto continued on into the rear end of the village until he reached the hokage monument that displayed the four hokage.

Naruto climbed up onto the Hokage monument and sat on top of the stone head of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Naruto had always looked up to the man, not only because he was cool to him, but due to the fact that he died protecting the village, like a true Hokage. He was quite an admirable man in the boy's eyes.

Naruto gazed at the sunset in awe. He always admired the sun as it set. The vivid colors of yellow, orange and red always blended in so beautifully. He really liked how those colors looked together.

"Today was a good day," the blonde mumbled aloud with a smile as he laid back. The stone was rough, but it wasn't much worse than the boy's low quality mattress so he didn't mind too much.

Naruto ate his bowl of ramen as he admired the sunset and fell asleep right on top of the monument without a care in the world.

* * *

><p>The next morning…<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto awoke from atop the stone head and stretched about. He almost forgot that he fell asleep on a rock due to the fact that his mattress was pretty low quality and a bit too hard, so sleeping on a rock wasn't much of a downgrade.<p>

"At least I'm not late…" Naruto grumbled as he judged the time by the area the sun was in. He had about an hour until he was due to arrive at the hidden leaf gate and meet up with his comrades.

The boy leapt down and made his way to his apartment so that he could take care of his morning hygiene.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere...<p>

* * *

><p>"You mean… he actually did it?" Kakashi asked, more disappointed than he was surprised."<p>

"Yeah, he came from out of nowhere asking for 50 missions. Then, before I knew it, he came back having completed them all! They were all D-rank, but that's still quite a lot." The man explained.

"I see…" the spiky haired man said disheartened.

"You've got one hell of a student on your hands." The chunin added.

"I suppose I do." The cycloptic man began.

"3 C-rank missions please." The jonin asked.

* * *

><p>About 45 minutes later…<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto had taken care of his morning duties and packed up his supplies for the upcoming C-rank mission.<p>

The blonde had arrived at the Hidden Leaf gate to see that Shino, Hinata, Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba were the only ones that had arrived. Shino and Hinata were standing uniformly near the wall while Sasuke leaned against the gate with his eyes closed; likely in deep thought. Sakura was standing a little too close to him with a noticeable blush on her face. Lastly, Kiba was sitting Indian style on the ground petting his puppy on the head.

"Hey." Naruto greeted aloud to no one in particular.

Shino turned to Naruto and nodded his head in the form of a greeting.

"G-G-Good m-m-morning N-N-N-Naruto…" Hinata stuttered as she fidgeted her fingers.

Sasuke glanced at the blonde for a few seconds, and then turned away.

Sakura scanned the boy, but desperately avoided all eye contact. She eventually turned away when Naruto looked back at the girl with an apathetic expression.

Kiba turned towards Naruto and semi-sarcastically asked, "Did that plan of yours work?"

"I told you I had it covered didn't I?" Naruto responded smugly

"What!?" Kiba the boy.

Sasuke snapped out of his trance and asked the blonde "Does that mean you actually did it?"

"What do you think?" Naruto asked tauntingly.

"You're lying, no way you did 50 missions in one day!" Kiba declared.

"If you say so." Naruto replied.

"How did you do so much in such a short period of time?" the bespectacled youth spoke up.

Naruto didn't say a word and simply placed his hands into the clone hand seal and conjured up about 100 clones.

'I wasn't aware he could conjure up this many. Interesting.' Shino thought to himself.

Sasuke said nothing but felt slightly inferior in the back of his mind.

Hinata said nothing due to her infamous shyness, but pondered how much chakra the boy really had.

Sakura already disliked being close to Naruto, but being near this many made her anxiety skyrocket; though she didn't show it.

"Well you're not so bad after all. I bet I could still beat you no sweat though!" Kiba taunted.

Naruto simply grinned at the boy's statement before dispatching all of the clones creating a large smokescreen for a few seconds.

"What's with the smoke?" A familiar voice asked.

Shikamaru and Choji walked up alongside each other with the ladder being the one to ask the question.

"He was probably showing the group his ability to conjure up many clones, thus explaining how he completed all of those D-rank missions. Am I right Naruto?" The Nara asked.

"How'd you know?" the blonde asked.

"It was pretty obvious. During the bell drill when you used clones you weren't fatigued at all. That was a dead giveaway that you're able to make much, much more." Shikamaru explained.

"You're as smart as ever." the blonde complemented earning a shrug from Shikamaru.

'I never knew that kid was that bright; all he does is sleep…' the Uchiha pondered.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, a blonde girl approached the gate, looking groggier than usual. Due to disliking andor barely knowing almost all of her teammates, she didn't feel the need to greet the bunch and just stood by the gate.

"Well good morning to you too." Naruto said sarcastically as he turned to the other blonde.

"Hi…" Ino said awkwardly.

Naruto turned away and continued to wait for his sensei along with his comrades.

Eventually, Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai all arrived at the gate with one scroll in each of their hands.

"Morning everyone." Kakashi said.

"I see you're finally on time." Naruto taunted.

"He wouldn't have been if we didn't force him out here. We practically had to drag him out here." Kurenai exaggeratingly said.

"Can we start the missions already!" Kiba complained.

"Fine with me." Asuma agreed.

"Alright everyone, I'd assume Naruto filled you in on our bet?" Kakashi asked gaining nods from several others.

"Well, then you should know he came through and won. He finished 50 D-rank missions yesterday all by himself. So, in return, we'll all partake in C-rank missions today. I hope you're ready."

The three Jonin opened the mission scrolls and began to recite the teams and missions they would partake in.

"Sasuke, Choji and Hinata, you're with me. We'll be going off into the land of chi to perform business negotiations with an upcoming village in hopes of forming an alliance early in the village's lifetime." Kurenai announced.

"Sakura, Shikamaru and Shino. We'll be hunting and neutralizing the giant moose-bear that's been terrorizing the civilians of our own home village. However, we'll need to travel all across our territorial borders to do so." Kakashi informed.

"Ok, Naruto, Ino and Kiba, we'll act as bodyguards as we escort a man back to his home in the land of waves to keep him safe. It's quite far from here, so we'll be there to protect him from robbers and wildlife. Nothing serious. We're set to meet him right here in 15 minutes." Asuma said.

'Not the most exciting mission, but a hell of a lot better than all of those damn D-ranks…' Naruto mentally concluded.

'I get the fat idiot and the girl who cant finish a sentence without stuttering. Great.' Sasuke thought.

'Oh no, I'm not on a mission with Sasuke! Well, at least I don't have to be with Naruto.' Sakura pondered.

'How troublesome… Kakashi could do this himself with low difficulty. Why do I have to tag along…' Shikamaru mentally complained.

Choji simply pulled out a bag of cheesy onion potato chips and began munching on them.

'The land of waves; that's too far! My feet will probably get blisters from walking that much!' Ino thought.

'Bodyguard Kiba. That has a badass ring to it!' Kiba thought with a grin.

Hinata wished she was on the same mission as Naruto, but was glad she had an easy mission where she couldn't get in the way.

Shino thought nothing in particular.

"This way guys." Kurenai said as she signaled her trio to follow her.

Kakashi simply walked off, leaving his trio to use their common sense to follow him.

* * *

><p>Naruto, Kiba and Ino stood at the gate for about 10 minutes until a grey haired bespectacled man with a large beard walked up to them. He wore a sleeveless grey V-neck shirt, pants and a pair of sandals. He also wore a towel around his neck and a large pointed hat on his head.<p>

"What the!? My life rests in the hands of a bunch of brats and their babysitter! Good job leaf village." The man said as he began clapping.

The man had an alcohol bottle hanging out of his left pocket. He was clearly tipsy.

"What was that!?" Kiba aggressively said with his fist in the air.

"Relax Kiba." Asuma said as he put a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You must be Tazuna. I'd rather we skip the formalities and just get going." Asuma directly insisted as he began walking with Naruto, Ino and Kiba following.

After mumbling under his breath for a few seconds, the man followed the bunch as they began their long trek to the distant land.

* * *

><p>20 minutes later...<p>

* * *

><p>The group walked in a horizontal line staring with Kiba on the left, Naruto beside Kiba, Ino in between Naruto and Asuma, and Tazuna on the right.<p>

"So Asuma-sensei, the land of waves is a passive village with no ninjas right?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, that's the only reason this mission is only a C-rank. If there were ninja assassins after us or something then this would easily be an A-rank mission. The odds of us being attacked at all are slim to none. We were only hired because Tazuna here is paranoid of getting mugged, right?" Asuma said with a chuckle while jokingly patting the man on the back.

"Y-Yeah. I got mugged once 20 years ago and never walked alone again. Heh…" The older man replied

Tazuna was visibly sweaty in which Naruto and even Asuma picked up on, with the latter dismissing it as nothing.

As the group walked on, Ino stepped in a deep puddle that she stopped the group to complain about.

"Its inside my sandal!" the girl whined.

"Its not that serious…" Kiba complained.

"Who cares if you got your foot wet! Lets keep moving!" Tazuna grunted.

Naruto, ignoring Ino's admittedly annoying whining, glared at the puddle then turned to Asuma. The bearded man had the same susceptive look that Naruto did and gave the boy a slight nod.

"Tazuna's right. Lets keep going." Asuma demanded, forcing Ino to reluctantly keep walking.

Suddenly, two bodies rose from the puddle and shot long shuriken chains towards the group, one aiming for the genin, and the other aiming for Asuma and Tazuna.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N. Like I said, an uneventful and rushed chapter. I really hope that you could still enjoy this. On a brighter note, as you can already tell by the team set up, the wave mission will go down quite differently from canon. No Kakashi, Sasuke or Sakura on this mission. Thanks for reading, and i'll see you at chapter 4! (hopefully :P)<strong>


	4. Danger Arrives: Enter Zabuza Momochi

**A.N. Viewers, I have a dilemma; I'm a terrible uploader. When I set goals for myself, I often disregard them, and when I have no goal whatsoever I neglect the fanfic and completely forget to write it like an idiot, which is the reason I took forever to write/upload chapter 4 (in my defense, my birthday, Christmas and new years with friends/family took priority). Instead of setting my own goals, which I'll just disregard, I want you guys to reach out to me and suggest how often you want me to upload. When I have someone counting on me to do something, I make sure to get it done (hopefully that makes sense). So there's that. Anyways, hopefully you enjoy the chapter. Please read and review. Happy new years by the way :D !**

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><p>"Get down!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Ino and tackled her to the ground, barely dodging the assault.<p>

Kiba on Naruto's command also dodged the technique with a swift dodge roll.

Asuma who was also prepared for the attack, substituted with a nearby stone.

He then, in the blink of an eye, dashed to give a strong punch to his assailant's jaw, knocking the man instantly unconscious.

"Tunneling Fang!" Kiba yelled as he spun with ferocious speed for a tornado like attack.

Kiba tore at the other man's abdomen through his armor leaving his stomach bare and bloody, knocking the man to the ground.

Before the man could regain his footing, Asuma quickly intercepted him with a chokehold.

"That was a nice and solid attack Kiba! Swift move Naruto!" Asuma complemented as he effortlessly picked up the two, restraining the conscious one, and leaned them onto a nearby tree. He then pulled out some robe from his backpack and tied the two up.

Naruto, letting go of Ino, stood up and held out his hand to help the girl up.

"T-Thanks Naruto." Ino said as she grabbed the boy's hand and stood up.

"No sweat, its what I'm here for. We are teammates after all." The boy said with a smile earning a reminiscent smile and a nod from Ino.

Naruto, Ino, Kiba and Tazuna followed Asuma and stood in front of the tree.

"You knocked that guy out with one punch, and he was wearing face armor too! You hit hard man!" Kiba complemented.

"Eh, not that hard. These guys are just lightweights." Asuma semi-humbly said.

"Who are these guys?" Naruto aggressively asked with his arms crossed.

"They're Gozu and Meizu, the demon brothers of the mist. Chunin missing nin who defected from their village four years ago. They specialize in relentless attack." Asuma informed.

"I took down a chunin, heheh!" Kiba cockily gloated as he performed a fist pump.

"How did you know about our ambush?" the conscious assailant asked.

"You two are idiots. If you wanted to blend in, transforming into a tree would have been more suitable. You shouldn't have transformed into a puddle on the ground when it hasn't rained around here in weeks. If a rookie like me spotted that, how didn't you?" Naruto rhetorically asked with a pointed finger.

"Asuma-sensei, why did these guys attack us? Didn't you say no ninjas should even be after us?" Ino asked.

"Good question. Meizu, you heard the lady." Asuma said turning to the demon brother.

"Fuck you." Meizu said vainly.

"Okay. I think Tazuna should explain this one then." The jonin said as he glared at the older man.

"…" the man was silent for a moment before eventually beginning.

"There… is a man named Gato after me." Tazuna began.

"Are you referring to Gato, of Gato Transports?" Asuma asked.

"Yes. However, he isn't only in charge of importing and exporting goods. Under the surface, he sells illegal things, like drugs." Tazuna continued.

"What does this have to do with why you're being targeted!?" Kiba complained.

"I'm getting to it!" Tazuna rebutted.

"Now where was I… Oh, yes. He's completely in charge of the land of waves seeing as we're a single island nation without the rights or power to stop his tyranny. There's one thing he fears however; the bridge. There is a bridge being constructed that will connect us to the land, which in turn would free us from his control. I am the head bridge builder, and the one man who stands in his way. That's why he wants me gone." Tazuna finished.

"He's been sending assassins after you?" Ino asked.

"This is the first time I've been directly attacked." Tazuna informed.

"So it's likely that he's going to end up sending more than just those two chunin after you, right?" Naruto questioned.

The bridge builder nodded.

"This doesn't sound like a C-rank mission to me…" Ino stated.

"You're right Ino. This is at the very least a B-rank mission; I'd even say A-rank. This is too risky for genin like you guys. We've been operating outside of our duties. This mission is officially-" Asuma started.

"Hey, wait a minute! We can handle something like this!" Kiba blurted out alongside his puppy's bark.

"Kiba, we're _genin_. A-rank missions are for _jonin._ Don't you see a problem with that?" Ino asked.

"Didn't you just see us take out those runts no problem? This'll be easy; as long as we get paid the normal amount for an A-rank, no worries." Kiba added.

'He's such an idiot…' the girl thought to herself.

"Not so fast Kiba. Gato will send out stronger ninjas now that he knows that chunin level ninjas aren't enough. This could be too dangerous." Asuma interjected.

"Finally, someone agrees with me." Ino said in relief.

"But then again, I doubt that its anything _I _wouldn't be able to handle." Asuma concluded gaining cheer from Kiba.

"This doesn't make any sense. It breaks so many rules too! Naruto, you agree with me right?" The girl asked desperately.

"I'm all for it." Naruto stated.

"Ino, think about it. What kind of ninja would we be if we left this poor old man right here on the road? He'd be dead within an hour." Naruto said seriously.

Ino sighed in defeat and reluctantly agreed.

"Tazuna, if you agree to pay our village the proper fee for our services, we will continue the mission. Deal?" Asuma asked.

"…"

"Fine." The bridge builder hesitantly agreed.

"Okay team, this is now unofficially an A-rank mission. Protect the bridge builder at all costs, O-formation."

Asuma took the lead with Tazuna directly behind him, Naruto behind Tazuna, Ino to the left of Tazuna and Kiba to the left.

The group continued along the long road ahead.

* * *

><p>After about sixty seconds with the group reasonably far away from where they were, two figures stepped out from the forest and looked towards the direction that the group headed.<p>

"What do you make of _Naruto_?" the taller of the duo asked.

"Disgustingly sloppy and weak. I can tell just by looking at him that _somebody's_ gotta break that loser in." the much younger of the two said.

"Not yet you won't. The time is not opportune." The tallest interjected.

"I know that. He just needs a little incentive to train harder, or he'll die before I get the chance to choke the life out of him." The shorter one replied as the two disappeared into a swirling void.

* * *

><p>A while later…<p>

* * *

><p>"Welcome to the glorious Land of Waves." The boat rower said sarcastically. The four ninja did not respond, as it was difficult to think anything of the area as it was quite foggy. The genin had barely seen fog more than 7 days of their lives in total, as the leaf village had a naturally sunny climate. Naruto specifically felt uneasy from his lack of clear vision. He'd normally think nothing of it, but being hunted by enemy ninja in an area where he couldn't see well was quite spine chilling.<p>

The boat the group had been traveling in was compact and unbearably slow. It did have a motor, but since they were attempting to silently reach the Land of Waves, the motor was simply too loud to use.

"Hey look at that!" Kiba yelled pointing to the huge unfinished bridge earning glares from everyone aboard.

"Pipe down kid. We're trying to get in unnoticed and you're too damn loud." the boat rower said quietly.

Kiba turned and pouted immaturely with Akamaru sitting on his head.

With everyone sitting quietly, the boat moved towards the docks

* * *

><p>Two mysterious figures stood atop the unfinished bridge in silence, analyzing who they were up against. The first was a teen whose gender was difficult to determine, but was likely a male. He wore a white mist ninja mask, which had two small slits for his eyes.<p>

The other was a tall muscular man who lacked a shirt. He wore long, grey pants and bandages that covered more than half of his face and neck. He had a strap going over his chest with an abnormally large sword on his back.

"The bridge builder… right on time." The bandaged man said callously.

"The man down there, the oldest leaf ninja, who is he?" the masked teen asked in a quiet voice.

"According to my bingo book…" The man replied having the book already pulled from his pocket.

"He's Asuma Sarutobi, son of the current Hokage." The shirtless man continued.

The masked boy was silent as he looked towards his partner.

"Why does it matter? Do you think he's beyond my skills, Haku?" he asked.

"Not at all. I just believe that this will be much tougher than we originally predicted." Haku stated honestly.

"Probably. I'll still be going in alone though. Those genin are like flies to me. Once the Sarutobi is taken care of, I'll take out the bridge builder and we'll be able to put all of this behind us. I want you to spectate the battle though. Its unlikely, but if things get rough I want you to step in, alright?" The man commanded.

"Understood Master Zabuza." The masked boy said respectfully.

Zabuza faded away with the surrounding mist.

Haku took one last look at the genin in which he wondered what they were doing on a mission like this. They would surely lose their lives soon.

"The tragic fate of a ninja…" Haku said as he too faded away.

* * *

><p>The group had left the boat and continued along another trail.<p>

"We're nearing my village. Its not much farther everyone." Tazuna announced to the relief of everyone.

"About time, I'm starving!" Naruto said gaining nods from Kiba and Ino.

"Forget the food, I just need some slee- GET DOWN!" Asuma yelled abruptly.

The genin dropped to the ground just missing the giant sword that twirled over their heads. The sword flew and lodged itself halfway through a nearby tree.

Seconds later, a man dropped from the top of the same tree and stood atop the sword with his back turned. He looked over his shoulder towards the group, more specifically the Jonin

"Asuma Sarutobi…" the swordsman said menacingly.

"Judging by the fact that you wield the Executioners Blade, you must be Zabuza Momochi of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." Asuma responded.

Asuma had expected to run into a few high level ninja, but a legendary swordsman? He wasn't sure that he would be able to win. It had been a long time since he faced an opponent that wasn't laughably weak.

The genin having stood up began to eyeball the mysterious man.

"Hey Asuma-sensei, want me to take care of this guy for ya?" Kiba asked cockily

"No way! Let me take this one, you got the last guy Kiba." Naruto said while cracking his knuckles.

"No. He'll kill you in an instant. Don't interfere, and that's an order." Asuma demanded in a tone much more serious than the laid back tone he normally had.

It was now common sense that the genin needed not to interfere so they nodded, and formed a triangular "barrier" around Tazuna with kunai drawn.

Asuma retrieved what seemed to be trench knives and placed them on his hands like brass knuckles. He then got into a brawler battle stance with his fists.

"Straight to business eh? As you wish." Zabuza said chuckling as he performed a hand seal and stretched his arm into the air. No more than a second later, thick, dense fog began to envelop the area making it near impossible to see anything further than a few feet in front of you. For the genin and Tazuna, the swordsman and their sensei seemed to disappear into the mist.

"Where'd they go?" Ino asked scanning her surroundings. The only ones she was able to see were Tazuna and her genin teammates.

"I wish I knew…" Naruto replied.

'Damn, its no use. All I smell is mist…' Kiba thought to himself after trying to sniff out Asuma and Zabuza's locations.

"So this is the famous hidden mist jutsu. Normally this would be a problem but…" Asuma smirked.

"Wind Style: Passive Breeze!" Asuma yelled as an enormous gust of wind flew from his mouth and blew over the entire battlefield blowing everyone's hair back.

The mist seemed to dissolve into the air as it was blown away with ease.

"Unfortunately, you're up against a master of wind style." Asuma said with a smile.

'Damn it, without the mist this will be much more difficult… but I should still be able to take him out' Zabuza thought

"Zabuza" reappeared and was revealed to be a few feet behind Asuma and ready to decapitate him with the edge of his blade.

Asuma then turned to punch the sword with his left chakra blade knocking "Zabuza's" arm back. The leaf jonin then took his right arm to punch the assassin directly in the face gashing his face and leaving a nasty scar. However, instead of blood, water came from the injury.

'Water clone-!' Asuma noticed as "Zabuza" turned into nothing but a pool of water.

The real Zabuza then appeared in the air above Asuma attempting to slash Asuma with a diving attack.

Asuma dodge rolled out of the way only for Zabuza to body flicker behind him and kick him into the air.

Asuma then landed into a nearby lake. Zabuza then sprinted into the same lake and placed his hand above Asuma.

'This water… its _heavy?!_" The jonin thought as he noticed his enemy above him.

"Too slow." The assassin taunted.

"Shit!" Asuma muttered as an orb of water that the swordsman created from the lake trapped him.

"Water prison jutsu." Zabuza informed aloud as he cackled at his now trapped enemy.

"Asuma sensei!" Ino yelled.

"No!" Kiba shouted.

"This is bad…" Naruto muttered.

"Now to take care of those brats, and then the bridge builder. Water clone jutsu!" Zabuza said as he performed a hand seal forming a clone from the water.

"Guys, take Tazuna and run! He'll eventually have to let me out of here to give chase, so I'll take care of him then! Just get out of here I can take him!" Asuma commanded.

"That wont work. Running away isn't an option anymore. The clone will just hunt us down and kill us." Naruto said.

Naruto began to whisper.

"Alright, you guys listening?"

"Im all ears." Kiba replied.

"I hear ya." Ino responded.

"I've got a plan, but I'll need both of you guy's help." Naruto whispered.

"Plan all you want kids, but you wont be able to defeat someone like me." The Zabuza clone taunted. He was merciful however, and allowed them to strategize since he was positive they wouldn't be able to defeat him.

No more than 30 seconds went by as Naruto and Kiba stepped up and smirked. Akamaru had hopped off of Kiba's head and stood alongside the boys.

"Ready Kiba?" Naruto asked as he retrieved a second kunai from his belt to dual wield.

"Yeah!" Kiba replied

"Okay, lets GO!" Naruto said as the two dashed towards the clone.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N. I doubt I'll do it often, but whenever I create a new jutsu, I'll give a description of it at the end so that you guys can better understand what it is and what it does.<strong>

**Wind Style: Passive Breeze; C-rank; Support Class; Requires no hand seals if the user is skilled enough**

**A technique where the user builds up chakra inside of his or her body and expels it from their mouth in the form of wind. The technique however is not an attack, but a support move that is used to blow things away. The force of the wind can be channeled depending on the skill level of the user. It can be used as nothing more than a cooling breeze on a hot summer day, or a defensive move to blow away smoke, mist, steam, etc.**


End file.
